Former Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele said the judge over former President Trump’s classified documents case is “trying to put the prosecution on trial.”
Speaking on MSNBC’s “Inside with Jen Psaki,” Steele accused Judge Eileen Cannon, who is presiding over the classified documents case, of being slow to handle pretrial motions and biased in favor of the prosecution. The New York Times Reports last week said two of Cannon’s colleagues had urged her to drop the case and suggested it might be better to have it tried in a Miami court.
“Since then, as The Times has reported, she has antagonized prosecutors, handled pretrial motions slowly and postponed the trial indefinitely. It’s almost as if the judges who recommended she dismiss the case knew how this would all turn out,” he said.
“Indeed, Judge Cannon has proven so favorable to Trump that he is, in effect, trying to put the prosecution on trial,” he added.
Cannon has indefinitely postponed the classified documents trial, making it unlikely it will go ahead before the November election. Steele was referring to a three-day hearing that began on Friday to discuss outstanding legal issues in the case.
Trump’s team reportedly argued Friday that the case should be dismissed because special counsel Jack Smith was illegally appointed. The Associated Press. Steele said the argument was an “unlikely” challenge that would likely have been rejected by another judge, adding that it was “without legal merit” and “unprecedented.”
“But it appears Judge Cannon absolutely had to hold a hearing on this case. This is the latest delay tactic from a judge who has wasted countless months on meritless motions. She has effectively refused to let Trump’s case go to trial and has yet to even set a date for the trial to begin,” he said.
“So, that’s Exhibit A in terms of the help that Trump is currently receiving from the courts,” he added.
